Regional input-output tables as a research tool for analyses of smart growth

The main objective of the project is to discover the functioning of economic mechanisms inside voivodships and between them based on regional/voivodship I-O tables and showing their usefulness for analysis of regional knowledge-based development.

The research hypothesis which will be investigated states that regions with little linkages of R&D sector with other sectors of their economy will not benefit in terms of growth from increase in R&D spending. The justification of such hypothesis is that R&D sector stand alone is not a guarantee for faster growth unless it is supported by development in education and well functioning mechanisms of absorbing innovations. A good example of it is when a high tech laboratory is built in the country or region which fails in attracting high profile scientists to work there. Then the investment does not bring the expected growth even if R&D spending increased.

The newly created regional input-output tables will be applied to two specific case study analyses: 1) studying regional impact of increased expenditure on R&D services and 2) finding the best location (from an economic point of view) for a specific investment (e.g. nuclear power plant). Implementation of the first case study will show how the use of regional IO tables can help in measuring economic growth through increasing spending on R&D (at the national level and regional). The implementation of the second case study will allow the use of knowledge (i.e. developed IO tables) to achieve the best development of the regions on the basis of this knowledge (in other words, the idea of pursuing the knowledge-based development).